Phil Knight Research Paper

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Nike is the largest athletic company in the world. Nike has factories and stores in almost every country. The company itself is worth over $18 billion. The vision of this company came from the mind of one man as he was writing an essay for a college class at the University of Oregon. The college student, who started this $18 billion dollar company from absolutely nothing, was Phil Knight. Phil Knight, born in 1938, is the son of William W. Knight and Lota (Hatfield) Knight. Knight’s father was a publisher of The Oregon Journal, a paper at the time. Knight’s father refused to give Knight a job at his company, so he got a job at the opposing paper. Knight or “Buck” rather, as he was nicknamed, was too small to compete in any contact sports,…show more content…
At this University, Knight was a miler, with 4:15 as his best time. Here, Knight met Bill Bowerman, his track coach at the time, and future partner at Nike. Knight graduated from the University of Oregon with a BBA in 1959, and continued on to get his master’s degree in Business and Administration at Stanford University. While at Stanford, Knight wrote his master’s thesis on running. Knight said that if Americans become more oriented toward fitness, a shoe maker could produce an athletic shoe which would find a market with both professional athletes and the public at large. This thesis ultimately became the blueprints for…show more content…
The company could not have been doing better. They got celebrities and top athletes to endorse their product, and every shoe they made had great sales. That is until the mid-1980’s. During this time, Nike got criticized for their shoes being great for athletics, but not great for just wearing them around the house, or even to work. Nike was not known for making all-purpose shoes. Nike’s sales dropped 19 percent. This was an all-time low for the company. Then, they released the Nike “air”. This was a comfortable shoe, great for athletics, and for wearing as you do anything else. These shoes featured a sole with a pad of air at the heel, making them feel as if you were literally walking on air. After these shoes were released, Nike’s sales went back up, and they never dropped

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